


Don't Be Like Thomas

by astralpenguin



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Library, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Maze (Maze Runner), Coffee, Essay Crisis, First Meetings, Genderfluid Thomas, Homework, Humor, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Nonbinary Teresa, Other, Pre-Relationship, Thomas is a Disaster, do your homework with more time to spare than this, please don't be like thomas, the title is not a joke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23026975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralpenguin/pseuds/astralpenguin
Summary: “Do you know those two guys over there?”Teresa looked up. “No,” they said. “I don’t. Why?”“I’m gay.”They sighed. “You’re a disaster is what you are.”“That too.”
Relationships: Minho/Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner), Teresa Agnes & Thomas (Maze Runner)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 206
Collections: Pieces of Thominewt





	Don't Be Like Thomas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IceBreeze](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceBreeze/gifts).



> after our 183463th late night in the library - not essaying but just hanging out there - my partner and i both decided to write fics set in a university library
> 
> this is my one
> 
> (seriously, don't be like thomas)

Thomas regretted everything.

He regretted every time he’d considered starting his essay, but decided to put it off for a little longer. He regretted every time that he hadn’t given himself enough time to do the assigned reading properly, leading to him having to skim it just before the lecture and hope for the best. He regretted deciding to study a subject that meant that he had to write essays and do readings in the first place.

He hated pulling all-nighters, he really did.

But this essay was due at 3pm the next day, and it was already 10pm, and he’d already used all of his self-certified extensions, so he was out of options.

“You’re a dumbass,” said his flatmate, Gally, when Thomas complained about it to him.

“I know,” said Thomas.

“I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve done this.”

“So have I.”

“I’m gonna get out of your way,” said Gally. “The last thing you need right now is me distracting you.”

“But I wanna play Mario Kart...”

“Thomas,” said Gally, “if you don’t hand in this essay, then you’ll fail that module, and you’ll have to retake the year. Do you want to be the person who has to retake the year because they decided that _Mario Kart_ was more important than getting their fucking work done?”

“....No.”

“Exactly. Goodbye.”

And so the traitor left Thomas to his despair and the consequences of his own actions.

Time passed.

Thomas wrote a grand total of one sentence.

He sighed, and picked up his phone.

**Direct Message: Teresa**

**Thomas:** i need help

He didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

**Teresa:** what did you do

**Thomas:** essay due tomorrow

**Thomas:** word count 2500

**Thomas:** i have written 12

**Teresa:** yikes

**Thomas:** yeah

**Teresa:** you want me to hold you accountable?

**Thomas:** yes

**Thomas:** and ideally provide me with snacks at regular intervals

**Thomas:** pls teresa

**Teresa:** you are a menace

**Teresa:** fine

**Teresa:** go to the library. i’ll meet you there

**Thomas:** you’re the best!!!!!

  
  


When Thomas reached the campus library, it was 11:30pm, and Teresa was already there. They were in the back corner of the computer room on the ground floor, and they waved Thomas over to them as soon as he walked in.

“You’re a mess,” they said in lieu of a hello.

“Hi Teresa,” said Thomas. “It’s good to see you too.”

They rolled their eyes and threw a bag of skittles at his face. “Shut up and get writing.”

“But Teresaaaaa,” said Thomas, pulling the best puppy-dog face he could.

Teresa was unmoved, and unsympathetic. They pointed to the computer next to theirs, and focused back on their own screen without another word.

Thomas loved his sibling, he really did, but wow. They were so cruel to him.

Thomas sat, logged in, and opened the bag of skittles.

While he waited for the computer to load, which somehow always took much longer than he either expected or thought was reasonable, he looked around the room, wondering how many other poor souls were trapped in the library so close to midnight on a Wednesday.

The answer: not many, and nobody that he knew.

There was a girl with bright blue hair, who had no less than five coffee cups sitting near her, who looked like she was moments away from falling asleep. Thomas could relate.

There was also a middle-aged guy who was wearing giant headphones. He was watching a movie - Thomas had caught a glimpse of the guy’s computer screen as he’d walked in. It was possible that the guy was a film student, or it was possible that he was just watching a movie because he wanted to. Either way, Thomas wished that _he_ could watch a movie. But no. It was essay time for him.

Finally, a few rows away, facing towards Thomas and Teresa, there were two boys. One of them was East Asian, and looked like he worked out a lot. The other was white and blond, and was really skinny. They were talking quietly to each other, and both of them were smiling.

Thomas thought they were both beautiful.

“Teresa.”

“What?”

“Do you know those two guys over there?”

Teresa looked up. “No,” they said. “I don’t. Why?”

“I’m gay.”

They sighed. “You’re a disaster is what you are.”

“That too.”

“Look, your computer’s loaded,” they said. They reached over, grabbed his mouse, and opened the browser.

Thomas snatched the mouse back. “I can do it myself!”

“Do it, then.”

Thomas opened the pdf of his assignment, the word document that he was writing his essay in, and the ebooks that his class had been told that they might find useful when writing the essay.

He stared at his screen.

He glanced up at the boys across the room.

Buff Asian was spinning his chair round and round, while Skinny Blond laughed at him.

“Thomas!” hissed Teresa.

“Sorry!” said Thomas, and he focused on his work.

Over the next hour, he snuck glances at the boys whenever he could. He ended up turning looking at the boys into a reward system of sorts. Every time he wrote three sentences, he was allowed to look at them. He _really_ wanted to look at them, so it worked well as motivation. By half past midnight, he’d finished the essay’s introduction, and had most of the first paragraph written, as well.

He stretched his arms up and clicked his back.

“I’m gonna go get some coffee,” he said, and went to stand.

Only for Teresa to push him back into his seat.

“No,” they said as they stood. _“I’m_ gonna go get us some coffee. _You_ are gonna stay here and write your essay.”

“But I’ve been working for a whole hour!”

“Yes, and you’re doing well, which is why I’m paying for your coffee, but you _need_ to get this done. You don’t have time to get distracted.”

“I won’t get distracted,” said Thomas. “I’ll go straight to the vending machine and straight back.”

Teresa raised an eyebrow. “Will you now?”

“Yes.”

“And you won’t stop to see what’s new on the book swap shelf?”

“I won’t.”

“And you won’t wander off upstairs to where they keep all the dvds?”

“I _won’t.”_

“And you won’t stop to try your hand at flirting with those boys that you’ve been making heart eyes at for the whole time you’ve been here?”

“I-”

Thomas cut himself off. Talking to the two boys hadn’t been part of his plan. His plan had genuinely been to get some coffee and to bring it straight back so he could keep working. But in order to get the coffee, Thomas would have to walk right past them. And, like Teresa had already called him out on being, he was a disaster, and there was a very real chance that, upon reaching such close proximity to people _that_ beautiful, he’d abandon all logical thought and attempt to talk to them. Talking to them could go amazingly, or it could go awfully, but either way it would be Very Bad News if he wanted to get his essay written.

“That’s what I thought,” said Teresa.

“If it helps, it would’ve been an accident.”

They laughed. “I actually believe you about that.” They gestured to his computer screen. “Get writing. I’ll bring you your coffee. Three sugars?”

“Yes please.”

Teresa walked away in the direction of the nearest vending machine.

A few seconds after they rounded the corner and disappeared from view, they were followed by Skinny Blond. Buff Asian stayed where he was, his gaze focused on his computer screen.

No, he wasn’t focused at all.

Buff Asain looked up and made eye contact with Thomas.

He grinned and waved.

Thomas could feel himself turn red as he waved back. He wanted nothing more than to pretend that he hadn’t just been staring at him, but he’d been caught in the act, and if he wanted to preserve the tiny shred of dignity that he somehow still possessed, then he would have to _own_ it.

He just hoped that Buff Asian wouldn’t come over and start talking to him.

Thankfully, he didn’t. He just grinned again, before going back to whatever he was doing on his computer.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Thomas refocused on his essay.

A few minutes later, Teresa returned.

Skinny Blond walked back into the room with them, a wide smile on his face. Thomas didn’t keep watching him, instead turning his attention to his sibling, whose return meant that Thomas would soon be getting some of that sweet, sweet caffeine.

Pretty boys were one thing, but Thomas needed that coffee if he was to stand a chance at getting this essay done in time. Despite what some people may believe of him, he did have _some_ common sense, and he was capable of prioritising.

Or, at least, he was capable of prioritising whenever it came down to the wire like this. He really needed to learn how to prioritise properly when it _wasn’t_ an emergency. If he did that, then he wouldn’t end up with so many emergencies in the first place.

Essay crises were never a good time.

Even if the pretty boys across the room made being in the library so late a lot more enjoyable.

Teresa handed him a cup and sat in their chair. “What are your pronouns right now?” they asked.

Thomas had been in the process of putting the coffee cup to his mouth, and paused halfway through the movement. “He/him.”

“Cool,” said Teresa as they got their phone out.

“What are you doing?”

“Messaging Brenda.”

“What are you saying?”

They looked up, looking faintly amused. “What I’m messaging my girlfriend about is none of your business. You have an essay to write.”

Thomas grumbled, and turned back to his computer screen.

He was just about to start finishing off the sentence that he’d been in the middle of writing when Teresa returned when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

He thought he’d muted all the groupchats?

Who was dm’ing him when he’d specifically told all of his friends that he needed to work? Out of everyone, the most likely culprit was Rachel. She was almost as big of a disaster as he was.

He got his phone out, intending to turn it off so he wouldn’t get distracted. He could respond to Rachel when he’d finished the essay. If she was dying or something, there were other people she could turn to instead of him. Like Aris. Aris always responded to everybody’s messages within a minute. _And_ Aris was some kind of inhuman creature who always wrote his essays with a week to spare, so there was no way that he was in the same situation as Thomas.

But the notification wasn’t from Rachel, nor was it from any of his other friends.

It was a message request from someone he didn’t know.

Sighing, Thomas unlocked his phone. He didn’t get these very often, and when he _did,_ it was usually spam. It shouldn’t take him more than a few seconds to figure out if it was spam or not, and to report/block if necessary.

But then he saw the profile picture of the account that had just messaged him.

It was Skinny Blond.

**Direct Message: Newt Ross**

**Newt:** If I’ve got the right profile then you’re the guy sitting in the corner of the ground floor computers right now. Your sibling said this was your name, anyway. Course they might have been lying, but the picture looks like you, so I’m pretty sure they weren’t

Thomas looked at Teresa.

They ignored him, busy typing away on their own phone

**(Message Accepted)**

**Thomas:** teresa’s my sibling yeah, and they weren’t lying to you

**Thomas:** i am indeed the guy sitting in the corner of the ground floor computers

**Newt:** I cornered them while they were getting coffee :D

**Thomas:** i figured

**Newt:** Am I disturbing you or are you free to chat?

**Thomas:** i WISH i was free to chat

**Thomas:** alas this essay is due tomorrow ;_;

**Newt:** Oh no!

**Newt:** Good luck! I’ll leave you be for now

**Newt:** But when you’re done, shoot me a message, okay?

**Newt:** Me and Minho (the guy I’m here with) want to get to know you better ;)

**Thomas:** okay!!!

Honestly, knowing that the two hot boys were wanting to talk to him and ‘get to know’ him, but were waiting for him to finish his essay first, was the best motivator that Thomas had ever come across in his life.

He downed half his coffee and Focused.

His fingers flew over the keys. He had so many tabs open to so many different books and websites. Word’s built-in citation manager was doing a lot of heavy lifting.

At some point during the night, Teresa stood and went for a walk. They returned some time later, and gave Thomas a new cup of coffee, which he thanked them for before returning all his concentration to the essay.

And, as daylight started to break through the clouds outside, Thomas finished the final sentence.

It was done.

(It wasn’t done. It needed proofreading, and then it needed submitting. But the hardest part was over and he was going to let himself have this one.)

He leant back in his chair and sighed.

A bolt of panic hit him and he darted forwards to hit the save button, and then he saved it again three more times, just to make absolutely sure.

If he lost _any_ progress on this stupid essay then he’d definitely break down crying, and he really didn’t need that right now.

“You’re done?” asked Teresa.

“Pretty much,” said Thomas.

“Okay, now walk me through your plan for the rest of the day.”

“Huh?”

“This is due at three, right?” When Thomas nodded, they continued. “You need to have proofread and submitted this by then. You _also_ need to get at least a couple hours of sleep, or your sleep schedule will be fucked beyond repair. And you need to eat.”

“I also need to talk to those two,” said Thomas. He pointed over to Minho and Newt, who had also, for some reason, stayed in the library all night.

“Technically, you don’t-”

“Teresa,” said Thomas, cutting them off, “do not logic me right now. I just pulled an all-nighter to write an essay. Logic doesn’t live here anymore. You will not win.”

Teresa laughed. “Okay,” they said. “I’m gonna go home. You just make sure that essay gets submitted on time.”

Thomas nodded. “I will.”

Teresa collected up their things and left.

Thomas was so grateful that they’d pulled an all-nighter in solidarity with him. They didn’t have any classes on Thursdays this semester, so it hadn’t been a catastrophic sacrifice for them, but still. They hadn’t been obligated to do that, but they’d done it anyway. And they’d bought him skittles and coffee. _And_ it seemed that they’d let one of the cute boys that Thomas had been ogling know that he was interested.

He’d find a way to make it up to them soon.

**Direct Message: Newt**

**Thomas:** essay is complete!!

Thomas looked over to see Newt check his phone. Newt then shoved Minho’s shoulder to get his attention, and they both looked over at Thomas.

Then they stood, and made their way over to where Thomas was sitting.

“So,” said Minho, “I’m just gonna cut to the chase.” He grinned. “Which one of us were you checking out earlier?”

“Minho!” said Newt, a scandalised look on his face. “We said we’d go easy on him!”

_“You_ said that. I don’t recall making any such promise.”

Newt rolled his eyes. “Sorry about him,” he said. “I’d say he isn’t usually like this, but that would be a lie. He’s a terror.”

“Uh, that’s okay, I don’t mind,” said Thomas. Then he sat up straighter, summoning every scrap of bravery he had. “It was both of you.”

“What?”

“Which of you I was checking out, it was both of you.”

Newt’s eyes lit up, and Minho’s grin somehow got even wider.

“That’s good to know,” said Minho, “because both of us were checking _you_ out.”

Despite everything about the situation suggesting that he hadn’t, Thomas assumed that he must’ve heard him wrong. “Sorry, you what?”

Newt sat in the seat next to Thomas. “You, Tommy, are very cute, and we both like you. What would you say if I offered that you spend the day with us, and see how it goes?”

Thomas didn’t even have to think about it. “I’d say that that sounds great, but that I’ll probably end up falling asleep at some point, and I need to make sure this gets submitted.”

“I’m sure that a nap can be factored in to the day’s plans,” said Minho.

“We all need to sleep at some point,” said Newt. “And with three people keeping an eye on the time, there’s no way you’ll miss your deadline. There’s no pressure here, and we’ll fuck off if you tell us to, but I meant it when I said that we want to get to know you better.”

Thomas saved his essay one final time and logged out. “I’d love to spend the day with you two,” he said. “Just lead the way.”

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are the best thing ever !!!!
> 
> come say [hi!!](https://astralpenguin.tumblr.com/)


End file.
